The invention relates to boomerangs. Boomerangs are devices which are capable of being launched into the air, (usually being thrownby a person), flying in a continuous path, and returning to their point of origin.
Boomerangs began as hunting weapons and as sporting devices. Original boomerangs were most probably composed of wood, this being the only substance available to the original hunter-gatherers that was light enough to remain airborne, yet strong enough to act as an airfoil in boomerang construction.
More recently boomerangs have been used for entertainment and sport as well as hunting. With this change in purpose and the change in materials available, boomerangs are now composed of other materials besides wood. The prior art discloses several boomerangs constructed of modern materials such as metal, plastic or some combination of these materials.
Despite new materials being available for boomerang construction, several problems inherent in the design and construction of boomerangs remain unanswered.
First among these unanswered problems in the art of boomerang construction is the fact that conventional boomerangs are not able to be thrown with both the left and the right hand. Boomerangs have heretofore been designed to be used by persons throwing the boomerang with their right or their left hand, but not either hand at the user's discretion.
The invention answers this need in the present art of boomerang manufacture. By utilizing an air foil design unique to the invention, the invention is able to be used with either the left or the right hand. The user is not restricted in his choice of which hand will be used to launch the boomerang. A single embodiment of the invention can be thrown by any member of a group composed of both left and right handed persons. This allows greater utility for the boomerang. More players may use the same device in a game involving the boomerang, and no consideration of which hand a player has more facility with needs to be addressed.
Moreover, a special model fabricated solely for left handed users does not need to be manufactured. This eliminates unneeded production delays to produce a left handed model, thereby making the invention more efficient, in terms of time and money, to produce than conventional prior art boomerangs.
A further problem addressed by the invention deals with alteration of the flight characteristics of boomerangs. By adjusting the angle of the airfoils in a boomerang, the device will exhibit new and different flight characteristics. This process is known in the art as "tuning."
Early prior art boomerangs were composed of material, generally wood or metal, too rigid to allow any deformation of the boomerang's airfoils. Tuning of the boomerang for a specific flight pattern was performed during the boomerang's construction, and no tuning could be administered after their construction. Use of a softer, more pliable material allows deformation of the boomerang for tuning, but such materials also have drawbacks. Such softer materials do not have the rigidity required to act as an airfoil, or do not maintain the deformation long enough to allow the boomerang to exhibit the new flight characteristics for an appreciable period of time.
More recent prior art devices use a composite plurality of materials, generally metal sheets or wires embedded in a soft outer layer, to make an article which is both flexible to allow tuning and rigid enough to give some permanence to the tuning operations performed upon the boomerang. This composite or multiplicity of materials being used in the boomerang's manufacture results in a longer and more costly production process.
The invention utilizes its unique airfoil design to allow it to undergo the successive tunings while still being a single homogenous material. The invention is able to be administered repeated permanent, yet reformable, deformations to accomplish repeated tunings. The boomerang's unique airfoil structure gives the boomerang a memory capability while still being composed of a single, homogenous material. Being composed of a single, homogenous material, the invention is more economical and faster to produce, a further advantage over the boomerang disclosed by the prior art.
By being able to undergo repeated tuning processes, the boomerang of the invention is able to exhibit a multitude of flight patterns and remains unique to the user. The invention is able to be changed, giving the user the ability to experiment with the various and different flight characteristics capable with the invention.